Finding the Guardians
by RebelGirl13
Summary: The Guardians helped Jack Frost restore his memories. Now it's up to him to return the favor. But with the other four spread so far and wide without a clue of their true identity, can he really find them on his own?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

**This came to me in the shower... I know, lovely, isn't it? But Rise of the Guardians is such a great story and I felt as if I could contribute to the fandom, so... Here *hides***

* * *

Ana broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. She leaned back, allowing the warm bathwater to tickle her scalp at the roots of her hair as she stared up at the ceiling. She loved baths. They were so relaxing and calming, even if there was mildew all over the walls and the faint odor of cigarette smoke hanging in the air. Not to mention six kids waiting for her to come out. She cringed as a loud shout sounded next to the door.

It was always like this in large foster homes. Big, noisy, crowded, and messy. That's why she tried to clean up after the others as often as she could. Reeta, their foster mother, didn't like it much when the house was laden with plastic toy robots and magazines. Ana couldn't exactly blame Reeta; there were quite a lot of them in that house.

There was Sophie, the youngest, and her biological brother Jamie. Next came Dallas, Gordon, Sierra, and the second oldest, Laura. Then there was Ana, of course. All of the children were extremely rowdy and rambunctious. Ana felt that, as the eldest of the crew, it was her responsibility to take care of them all. Laura, who was thirteen, tried to help as well with the younger kids, but they didn't exactly listen to her.

"Toothiana!" Ana jerked out of her reverie as a heavy pounding fell upon the door. "You have five minutes left before I come in there and drag you out myself!" Ana half-grimaced, half-smiled. She grimaced because she hated it when someone called her by her full name, Toothiana. (Her name was a fact that she tried her absolute hardest to keep hidden.) She smiled because she knew that Reeta would never carry out her threat, for she was much too kind-hearted.

Ana sighed and sat up, wishing she didn't have to leave the rapidly cooling water so soon. She picked up the pink bar of soap on the side of the tub, holding it in her palm. It's shape instantly reminded her of an Easter egg and she smiled softly. Easter was always fun with the kids. The egg hunts were always so... She couldn't stop staring at the soap now. Easter egg, Easter egg, Easter... The shape seemed to remind her of something else, but she couldn't remember what.

* * *

_"Toothie! What are 'ya doin' to my eggs?" Bunny's horrified call rang across the Warren clearly. In an instant, he was by her side. She laughed, waving a hand. "I'm just arranging them! No need to get jumpy."_

_Bunny gaped at her. "But you... You painted them pink!"_

_"What's wrong with pink?" she demanded._

_"Tooth, you love colors! Why would you paint all of these eggs the same bloody way?!"_

_"They're for Sophie." Tooth explained, once again waving her hand dismissively. "She's going through a pink stage, and I thought you could hide these at the Bennett's. Look, here are some blue ones for Jamie..." _

* * *

The soap slid out of Tooth's hand as she blinked the scene away. Giving a nervous laugh, she picked it back up and set it down. With shaky hands, she lifted the drain clog. She had always had a vivid imagination. Look at this, she was creating scenes with eggs and Jamie and Sophie... And a giant rabbit? All from a glance at some soap.

She reached forward to drag herself out of the tub and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the shower head. She froze. Her eyes had flashed purple, she was sure of it. She grabbed the shower head and peered once more into the metal surface, checking to see if the illusion was indeed true. Her eyes, however, were as brown as they'd ever been, and as brown as they were ever going to be...

* * *

"Grandpa! Look what I found!" Nicholas St. North looked up from his workbench as Jackson burst into the room, waving a wooden object in his hand. "It's the train engine you made me last year. Now my collection is complete again!"

North let out a bellowing laugh and stood up from his workbench, brushing sawdust off of his front. "This is wonderful news, my boy! Why don't we celebrate, with lemonade? Go pour some in the kitchen."

Jackson gleefully sprinted out of the room. North chuckled as he took off his work apron and goggles (sensible precautions in a workshop). His grandson was a strange boy for certain. He was so playful all the time, and his white hair made him stand out more than anything. The pair lived in the backwoods of Russia by themselves. There was no school for hundreds of miles around, so North taught Jackson everything he knew.

It was rather a good thing, though, that Jackson did not go to school with other children. He was only ten years old, and had never met anyone his own age. In fact, he had been living with his grandfather for as long as either of them could remember. North scrunched his eyebrows. Jackson... He would have had a mother, wouldn't he? And if North was his grandfather... That meant Jackson's mother was North's daughter. So why couldn't he remember her? No photographs, no memories, not even a name.

But if he had a daughter, or even a wife, shouldn't he have remembered them? Wouldn't they be rather prominent in his mindset?

North shook his head to clear it. It didn't matter. Both he and Jackson were happy. _And that's all that was important, _he thought as he went to have lemonade with his grandson.

* * *

"Get after him! Hurry!" Aster sprinted swiftly through the overgrown forrest. He was thoroughly exhausted, having been chased for the last two hours nonstop by the scientists. He didn't stop, though, because he knew giving up meant that they would catch him, and he couldn't endure that again.

He knew perfectly well why the Scientific Branch of Alpha Matter wanted him so badly. He was an extremely special human being. Though... was he even human? Sometimes he struggled with this thought so much, he had to put his brain on temporary lockdown. He was human, but he wasn't. He walked like a human, talked like a human, and even breathed like a human. There was his other side, though... his more rabbit-like qualities.

Aster was fast. Incredibly fast. He was swift, and stronger than any twenty-two year old Austrailian male had any physical right to be. That's why the Scientific Branch wanted him. They claimed to have created him, and made him who he was. He hated them for that. Not that he could remember anything but running from them, of course.

He quickly dropped low to the ground and pressed himself to the cool dirt, praying that the foliage would shield him from the ever-nearing searchlights. He heard several shouts, and few clicks, some heavy footfalls... He squeezed his eyes shut. "... Over this way!" one of the men shouted. "I think I found a trail!"

Aster did everything in his power to resist smirking. _Like hell you did,_ he thought smugly, before slowly pushing himself upwards. His pursuers were already far in the distance, hot on "his" trail. It was only a matter of time before they realized that the trail of broken undergrowth had been created by some four-legged critter. Before that happened, Aster had to leave.

He looked back over his shoulder once more. The searchlights were still brightly outlined against the night sky, but they would soon be disappearing into the darkness. Aster turned his back and began to run in the opposite direction. Once again, he had lost them. But it wouldn't be long before they found him again. No, it seemed that they would never give up until he was once again in their clutches. Until then, he had to keep running, and hope that there was someone to pull him out of this endless cycle.

* * *

"Mr. Sanderson, can you hear me?" He didn't know if he could hear them. He didn't know if he could hear himself, even. All he was aware of was everything, and nothing. Like he was floating, yet his feet were touching the ground. Like he was dreaming, and yet he was wide awake. From time to time, he could catch snippets of the nurse's conversations about him.

"... the ICU, stat..."

"... there's no last name here, it just says 'Sanderson'..."

"... 'oor fella. If he doesn't wake up soon, well, let's just say... things aren't lookin' so good for him."

"... Ah, Sanderson. No one in all of London seems to have a record of you..."

He knew a few things for certain, based off of what he had heard: he was in London, in a coma, in a hospital bed. But why? Who was he? Was he this... This Sanderson person everyone kept talking about? And why didn't he have a last name? The questions were so confusing that most of the time, he found it easier just to float along without asking.

* * *

Jack spun around on the spot, clutching at his hair. This was so wrong. They were all gone, every single one of them. He had felt something tug at him from the inside a few hours ago and had gotten a distress call from North, so he had rushed to the Pole, only to find it abandoned. There was no sign of North, the elves, or the yetis anywhere. He had gone to see if Bunny had gotten the distress call as well, but the Warren, it seemed, was also deserted.

Jack couldn't find Sandy no matter where he looked that night, and had rushed to Tooth's palace as quickly as he could. She, and her fairies, were all gone.

The question was, where had they all gone? Something was extremely wrong with the way they had disappeared, Jack knew that much. But what had caused them all to vanish? And why hadn't he?

"Jack."

He froze. A deep voice had called his name. He spun around to see who it was, but he appeared to be alone.

"Jack Frost." The voice sounded again. "Look up."

Jack slowly lifted his head to the sky. The only thing he could see was the bright moon, shining white against its black backdrop. "Is that... Is that really you?"

"Jack, listen to me," said the Man in the Moon. "You're the only Guardian left. You have to do everything I say, or else your friends, and the children's protectors, will be lost forever. Now, this is what happened..."

* * *

**I'm sorry, I know it's confusing, but just bear with me here, 'cause it gets less so. Tell me what you thought off it and:**

**Question of the Week: What do you think happened to the Guardians?**

**-Rebel**


	2. Chapter 2: The Gateway Is Breeched

**Chapter 2: The Gateway is Breeche**d

"Laura, I really have to go," said Ana, doing her best to gather her belongings into her bag.

"Then take me with you," suggested Laura, who was blocking the door.

"I can't help you with your homework when I'm at work!" Ana reminded her. "Now come on, I'm going to be late picking up Jamie from school!"

Laura crossed her arms. "Just because you have your driver's license now doesn't mean you're superior to the rest of us normal human beings."

Ana sighed exasperatedly. "Laura, I got it months ago! Why are you acting this way?"

"Please, just let me come with you!" begged Laura. "I have nothing to do here without you, and I could help you keep an eye on Jamie! Do you really think he's just going to sit in the back and color until you get off your shift?"

Ana stared into the 13-year-old's imploring hazel gaze. Laura was like a sister to her. They'd been through so much together. But when she wanted something, she could be the most irritating person on the face of the planet. "Fine," consented Ana. "But you better stay out of everybody's way."

Ana worked at a small burger joint at the intersection of Main Street and Colindale Drive. Locally, it was extremely popular. It acted as a hangout for a lot of teenagers. Well, the teenagers that had time to hang out.

Laura followed Ana out the door, chattering enthusiastically the whole time. "I promised Jamie that this afternoon I'd help him with the essay he has to turn in tomorrow. It's about his hero. I wonder who he'll pick."

Ana laughed as she put the keys into her ignition. "You so want it to be you."

Laura grinned. "Maybe a little."

The whole way to the Elementary school, Ana and Laura talked about things that the kids had done recently, upcoming events, and a new topic... boys. Laura had never shown romantic interest in a boy before. She hadn't really had the opportunity to hang out with boys much, seeing as her school was an all-girls academic faculty. She had just recently gotten a job at the elementary school teaching piano to younger kids. She wasn't the only teacher there...

"His name's Erik," explained Laura. "He teaches guitar to the kids. He's so amazing at it! He's really socially awkward, though. Not with the kids. I mean, he loves the kids. But when it's with me..." Laura trailed off.

Ana nudged her playfully. "And that really bothers you, does it?"

Laura crossed her arms and glared. "Well, of course it does. I'm a sociable person and when someone won't talk to me..."

A few minutes after picking Jamie up from school, Ana pulled into the parking lot of Jewel's diner. "Remember," she told her siblings. "Don't make any noise. If you're quiet, I might sneak a milkshake or two to you."

Jamie cheered and Laura grinned. Ana couldn't help but smile back. As chaotic and tiring as this life was, she wouldn't trade it for anything else. In fact, there was only one thing she would change about it. All she wished was that these weird hallucinations would stop. The hallucinations where she was a bird, where she wad friends with people she had never even met, and where there was a boy. A boy with snow-white hair, perfect teeth, and twinkling eyes. A boy who's name, she was certain, was Jack.

* * *

Laura sighed and rested her head on her hand, watching Jamie color her a picture of what he did at school that day. She knew she should be helping him with his homework - or rather, doing hers - but watching him scribble on a piece of paper seemed much more interesting than "hero reports" or essays on the Neolithic Revolution.

Actually, there wasn't really anything interesting in the back office room of Jewel's diner. There was a desk, a couch, a set of hooks with uniform aprons on them, a small refrigerator, and a water tank. "I wish we could do something," she sighed, more to herself than anyone else.

Jamie looked up, his eyes wide. "But we are doing something! At least, I am. Here, why don't you color something?" He held out a sheet of printer paper. Before Laura could respond, the door opened. A boy in a red polo shirt stepped into the room, his brown hair laying rather thickly on his head. His eyes looked tired and defeated, but Laura grinned and stood up anyways.

"Hey, Darren!" Darren Powers had been working at Jewel's even longer than Ana had, and he knew all of her siblings very well. Laura had been the first to meet him. 4 years ago, they had been in a production of the middle school's play together. The present year, seeing as Laura was a high school freshman and Darren was a junior, it seemed they would be doing so again.

"Hey, Laura!" greeted Darren cheerfully, perking up at the familiar face. "Did Ana drag you two along again?"

Laura ducked her head. "I kind of made her." Darren laughed. "So, what's up?" Laura said quickly, before he could comment on her persistence. Again. She had known him for this long, and that seemed to be all he remembered her by.

Darren sighed, suddenly looking tired again. "One of the managers walked out on us today. I did get promoted," he said, pointing to his badge and puffing out his chest a little, "but it's been really chaotic today. We've got at least two mass orders to finish by tomorrow, and we're completely understaffed. I think... Well, I don't know."

Laura walked over to the hooks on the wall and grabbed an apron, tying it around her waist. "Why don't I help?"

Darren looked unsure. "Could you? Are you alright back here by yourself, bud?" he said to Jamie. Jamie rolled his eyes.

"What do you think I'm gonna do, burn the place down? I'm just coloring."

Darren grinned, the light once more sparking in his eyes. "That's great! But... Laura, I can't really..."

Laura mimicked her foster brother and rolled her eyes. "Darren, honestly. How many times have I told you I don't care about getting paid? I've helped out before, and it's not that big of a deal. Come on, let's go."

Darren nodded. "Okay, let me just grab something real quick, and I'll be right out."

Laura proceeded to open the door and step out into the kitchen. The sight that met her eyes was one that she had not been expecting. Ana was on the floor, her eyes closed and her face pale, surrounded by other employees. A few customers were watching from the ordering window.

"It's alright, everyone," assured Amy, one of the employees who had stuck a dish towel underneath Ana's head. "She just passed out. I think she's exhausted, poor girl. Someone help me get her to the couch."

Laura rushed forward to help lift her sister. She gently lifted Ana's head and looked up, her hair falling into an untidy curtain around her face. She saw someone she had never seen before. It was a boy, about Ana's age, maybe a little older. He was wearing a Jewel's Diner employee apron, but Laura was sure that he didn't work there. He wore a guilty expression as he watched Ana, but he didn't look at all surprised.

When Laura saw him, she was sure. She didn't know how, but she was. Ana hadn't passed out from exhaustion. She had passed out because of him.

And Laura was about to find out why.

* * *

"I'm sorry about that, sir. Here, this one's on the house." Ana smiled and handed the elderly man a Diet Coke.

"Well," grunted the old man, who was eyeing the cup distastefully as if he had been given another regular Coke. "Get it right next time."

He sauntered away and Ana heard a little giggle from behind her. She turned around to see Rebecca, one of the other employees, cover her mouth. "Sorry," she laughed. "I didn't mean to get the order wrong."

Ana smiled. "No one's holding it against you. These things happen all the time."

"You're not talking about yourself, are you?" scoffed Rebecca. "You always get it perfect."

Ana shrugged. "I have a good memory. Hey, where'd Darren go?"

"He went out back to go get his waterbottle, or something," replied Rebecca.

A cook, Tommy, came out from the storage room holding a cardboard box and laughed. "Yeah, right. He probably went in there to go see Laura."

Ana let out a small laugh. "That's not something to skip out on work for." Darren had been one of Laura's closest friends for a while. Recently, Tommy and Rebecca had been planning every small detail about how the two childhood friends would fall in love. In the process, Ana noted sourly, denying the fact how perfect they were for each other.

"You don't think so?" someone responded to her. Ana jumped. She didn't know that voice. Who was it? A new employee? Jewel hadn't told her about anyone knew coming in-

She turned to face him. She saw white hair, white teeth, a white face. He smiled. It was that boy, from her hallucinations. Jack.

In less than a second, a million images flashed across her eyes. A large bunny. Eggs. A little girl. A shadow of darkness. A burst of light. A sleigh. A palace. More and more images zoomed across her vision, and she only managed to zero in on a few of them. There was a little boy in her arms, dying. There was a woman with a knife. A man, holding out his arms lovingly. Feathers. Home. A voice was saying, _The Memory Gateway has been breeched._

It was too much. Ana's eyes rolled into the back of her head and her eyelids snapped shut as she fell to the cold ground, blissfully unaware of the tumult around her.

* * *

**It's been forever. I'm not apologizing. Hrumph. :)**

**Question of the week: What do you think of Laura? I've never made an OC this important before.**

**-Rebel**


End file.
